26th Jan 25 5:32 am
JamieThe first struggles that come to mind are often personal and emotional – grief over the loss of a cherished relationship and an imagined future two people had, at some point in the past, planned to spend together, often complicated by feelings of anger or betrayal and in many cases concerns about how to balance the demands of coparenting across separate households. However, the practical aspects of divorce will usually involve a number of financial and administrative tasks associated with creating those separate households. Many of these tasks, such as closing or transferring various types of accounts, changing formerly shared login information, and – for many people – updating online profiles to reflect a major change in their lives, now involve a significant digital component. Divorcing your digital life after a divorce can be just as complicated as any other aspect of setting yourself up for a new life after divorce, and in many respects can benefit from a similar degree of advance planning and attention to detail. To discuss your preparations for this transition with an experienced attorney in the Denver area, call Colorado Divorce Law Group today at (720) 593-6442 and schedule your personalized consultation.
Most people will want to make at least a few changes to their social media accounts after a divorce is final. The type and extent of updates may vary, depending on factors such as the platforms you used most before the divorce, the extent to which you limited your digital activity while the divorce was pending, and even what your post-divorce relationships with your ex and his or her family and the friends you met either through your former spouse or as one half of a couple look like after the divorce is final. Another important factor for many recently divorced individuals can be whether they owned some or all of their social media accounts jointly with their ex, as jointly held accounts – even if they have little to no monetary value – may be subject to having their individual fates determined as part of the formal process for division of marital property, either as ordered by the court or in accordance with the terms of a settlement the divorcing spouses reach together.
If you have a personal account with Facebook, LinkedIn, or another social platform that is based on a high level of integration with users’ real names, places of work, and physical locations, then you may want to update your relationship status using whatever options the platform offers once your divorce is final to keep your profile current with what your professional colleagues and local connections likely already know about you from other sources, and to ward off unnecessarily awkward conversations with others who might not be “in the loop” regarding recent changes in your personal life. Whether individuals choose to acknowledge a divorce in any other way on this type of platform can come down to personal choice, but factors many people take into consideration include the degree of tension between themselves and their former partners, whether they have children with their ex who may be affected by public perceptions of any information shared online by either parent, and the dynamics of the relationship between each of the exes and their respective former in-laws.
Generally speaking, most attorneys will tend to recommend that clients updating social media accounts with strong and obvious connections to local work and family relationships adopt a “less is more” approach to their profile changes after a divorce. The change of relationship status is extremely common, and so is a change of last name for individuals who took a spouse’s surname during their marriages and included a Motion for Name Restoration as part of their divorce filings with the Colorado Judicial Branch in the court where their divorce proceedings took place.
Most people updating their personal social media profiles to reflect a recent divorce should expect to lose at least a few of their social connections who were primarily acquaintances through their former partners. Ideally, people with whom you have grown close over the course of your marriage – regardless of how you met them – will either continue to value your presence in their lives, or peacefully move on. If any social media connections choose a more “confrontational” approach, do not hesitate to use the relevant platform’s “block” settings to reduce your exposure to harassment from people who do not take your divorce well (whether or not this category includes your ex).
At the same time, individuals should try to avoid the mistake of relying on a social media platform’s blocking or privacy settings as the sole protection for their privacy. Often it can be helpful to think of these settings as being similar to the locks on a door. They can certainly make accessing whatever lies on the other side (in this case, an individual’s personal updates and posts) more difficult for the uninvited to access – but someone sufficiently skilled or determined can in many cases still find a way to get a peep. Keeping this reality in mind as you determine what to post – especially after a major life change, such as a divorce – can put you in the right frame of mind to make wise decisions regarding your own safety and privacy.
Individuals who maintain “content creator” accounts on social media platforms such as Instagram (owned by the same parent company as Facebook, but with a notably different approach to the management of users’ digital identities), TikTok, or YouTube face a different set of considerations in making changes to their social media profiles after a divorce. Of course, “themed” accounts that prior to the divorce were organized around “domestic” content may need careful maintenance during divorce proceedings, and thoughtful adjustments after a divorce is final. You may wish to consider discussing your strategy for digital presence management during and after a divorce with an experienced family law attorney to develop a clear plan for how to protect both your interests in the divorce and the digital life you have built.
Another set of factors will likely come into play if at any point in your marriage you owned social media accounts or “pages” jointly with your then-spouse. If the joint ownership was reflected in the way the account was presented to audiences or followers, and either spouse wishes to maintain the account and keep it active, then the spouse who retains ownership of the account in the divorce will likely wish to adjust its profile settings to reflect the change – in addition to, obviously, updating any login information.
Social media accounts may be considered “personal property” and therefore assets by Colorado family judges in some situations, so before taking any action to make changes to an account you managed alongside your partner prior to the initiation of divorce proceedings it may be wise to confirm the disposition of any previously shared accounts in the property division process with the court. Similarly, if your ex has failed to show the same level of respect, you may wish to consult with a divorce attorney at Colorado Divorce Law Group to discuss your legal options for seeking remedy and regaining appropriate access to your account.
Managing the transition from married to single on social media after a divorce is to some extent likely to be an extension of an individual’s offline management of their social relationships and how they choose to handle the inevitable questions (both kind and salacious) and potential criticisms as they navigate a major turning point in their path through life. Many married couples’ digital lives, however, also include a number of digital devices – computers, tablets, televisions or monitor displays – and subscriptions (for instance, to streaming platforms or popular delivery services like Instacart or DoorDash).
Similar to items such as jewelry or clothing, digital devices that were used exclusively or almost exclusively by either spouse during the marriage may be “set apart” for that spouse during a Colorado court’s proceedings for the disposition of marital property as provided in C.R.S. 14-10-113(1). An especially valuable device that was purchased for household use during the marriage may need to be apportioned to one spouse and counterbalanced by the award of some other asset to the other party, or in some instances valuable digital assets may be sold and the proceeds divided between the spouses in order to achieve an outcome the court considers fair.
Deciding who gets to keep both the advantages and the ongoing expenses associated with a digital subscription service – or which spouse gets to take advantage of the time remaining in a paid subscription period – can be a more delicate question, especially if the subscription billing was tied during the marriage to a shared credit card that will need to be either canceled (and paid off) or assigned to one spouse (who will likely also be assigned the responsibility for any associated credit card debt, although it is important to note that Colorado family courts will not typically be able to prevent creditors from holding both parties financially liable as long as both names remain on the account). A conversation with a knowledgeable family law attorney may help you evaluate your options and priorities for deciding whether it makes sense to cancel subscriptions, surrender them to your ex, or negotiate a combination of solutions depending on your personal priorities and the types of services involved.
A marriage typically affects many different areas of life, for both spouses. A divorce will generally have similarly wide-ranging effects. The many tasks involved in disentangling your life from your former partner’s and deciding which pieces make the most sense to keep as you move forward after a divorce can often feel overwhelming. Working with a divorce lawyer who is familiar with the concerns of individuals navigating modern divorces may help you to assess your options and put in place a strategy to manage the many different aspects of this transition. Contact Colorado Divorce Law Group by calling (720) 593-6442 today to set up a consultation.
